Tabari (1 passage)

1. Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text

   Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, who said: Qatāda recited: (And that our foolish one used to speak excesses against Allah, and that we thought that men and jinn would never speak a lie against Allah), and he said: by Allah, the foolish one of the jinn was disobedient to Him, just as the foolish one of mankind was disobedient to Him.

   As for the "excess" (shaṭaṭ) of speech: that is what constituted a transgression.

   And in agreement with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.

   * Mention of those who said that:

   Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb related to us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His statement: (And that our foolish one used to speak excesses against Allah) — he said: injustice.

   And His statement: (and that we thought that men and jinn would never speak a lie against Allah) — He says: they said: and we supposed that the children of Adam and the jinn would never speak a lie against Allah in their speech. And "supposing" (ẓann) here means "doubt." This group of the jinn only denied that it had known that anyone would dare to lie against Allah, when they heard the Qurʾān, because before they heard it and before they knew that Allah rejects the lie of those who claim that Allah has a spouse and a child, and other meanings of unbelief, they were under the assumption that Iblīs was truthful in that to which he was calling the children of Adam of the forms of unbelief. But when they heard the Qurʾān, they knew with certainty that he had been a liar in all of that, and therefore they said: (And that our foolish one used to speak excesses against Allah), and thus they called him a foolish one.

   Show original Arabic

   حدثني ابن عبد الأعلى، قال: ثنا ابن ثور، عن معمر، قال: تلا قتادة: (وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ سَفِيهُنَا عَلَى اللَّهِ شَطَطًا وَأَنَّا ظَنَنَّا أَنْ لَنْ تَقُولَ الإنْسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا ) فقال: عصاه والله سفيه الجنّ، كما عصاه سفيه الإنس. وأما الشَّطط من القول، فإنه ما كان تعدِّيًا. وبنحو الذي قلنا في ذلك قال أهل التأويل. * ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثني يونس، قال: ثنا ابن وهب، قال، قال ابن زيد، في قوله: (وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ سَفِيهُنَا عَلَى اللَّهِ شَطَطًا ) قال: ظلمًا. وقوله: (وَأَنَّا ظَنَنَّا أَنْ لَنْ تَقُولَ الإنْسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا ) يقول: قالوا: وأنا حسبنا أن لن تقول بنو آدم والجنّ على الله كذبا من القول، والظنّ هاهنا بمعنى الشك، وإنما أنكر هؤلاء النفر من الجنّ أن تكون علمت أن أحدًا يجترئ على الكذب على الله لما سمعت القرآن، لأنهم قبل أن يسمعوه وقبل أن يعلموا تكذيب الله الزاعمين أن لله صاحبة وولدًا، وغير ذلك من معاني الكفر كانوا يحسبون أن إبليس صادق فيما يدعو بني آدم إليه من صنوف الكفر؛ فلما سمعوا القرآن أيقنوا أنه كان كاذبا في كلّ ذلك، فلذلك قالوا: (وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ سَفِيهُنَا عَلَى اللَّهِ شَطَطًا ) فسموه سفيهًا.